With 25 years’ experience in the correctional foodservice, we’ve seen a lot of things that you don’t see in a restaurant kitchen. One important difference is that many jails and prisons often have trustees working in the kitchen. This makes a lot of sense; it can help the inmate to gain some work experience and future job skills. Additionally, many inmates value the opportunity because it can alleviate some of the boredom that comes with incarceration and it allows them access to fresh food or different items than they may see on their jail food tray. Over the last 25 years, not only have we seen a lot of different things, but we’ve also learned a thing or two about jail and prison foodservice. We’ve taken those bits of information and created Cook’s Counsel. You may have seen these in the Cook’s Correctional Buyers Guide for Corrections through the years. Cook’s Counsel are valuable tips for the jail or prison kitchen, and now we are sharing them in our blog posts from time to time.
Cook’s Counsel #1 – Convection Ovens
Trying to figure out whether you need a single or double deck oven? Use chicken quarters as a guide because they’re the largest single item you are likely to serve. Twenty (20) quarters will fit on a full size sheet pan and five (5) sheet pans fit in each oven. That means a double deck oven, like the Vulcan VC44GD-11D250K, will hold 200 portions.
Cook’s Counsel #2 – Floor Mixers
Inmates usually aren’t careful enough with mixers, frequently changing gears while mixing something. We know, and you know this mistreatment strips the gears. You get the bill for costly repairs and the mixer is inoperable. The solution is a variable speed mixer. With no gear box to strip, the mixer is less likely to be broken or sabotaged by inmates. Cook’s recommends Varimixer floor mixers, a heavy duty, variable speed mixer available in multiple sizes to meet your jail or prison kitchen need.
Cook’s Counsel #3 – Ice Making Equipment
How high is your ceiling? Don’t limit your facility to a ratio of one to one when it comes to ice machines and ice bins. If you need more ice than one ice machine will produce in 24 hours, we can provide 2 units stacked on one large ice bin, saving floor space and the cost of a second bin. If you’re in a warm climate, you’ll like use more ice than average, so make sure you have enough capacity.
